Tag: United States National Health Care Act

Back then, as Sanders himself put it, “we had me, and that was it.” But even before Sanders released his plan, liberals were warning that Democrats would be unwise to shackle themselves to a bill that could hurt them politically. When grandiose promises on the campaign trail aren’t kept once attaining power, a party’s base becomes demoralized and recriminations follow.” Margot Sanger-Katz, writing in The New York Times, argued that Medicare for All could become the Democratic Party’s version of the GOP’s “repeal and replace,” an unfulfillable promise that would come back to haunt them: Like “repeal and replace,” “single-payer” is a broadly popular slogan that papers over intraparty disagreements and wrenching policy choices. A highly cited survey by Kaiser Health Foundation shows that a slim majority of Americans, 53 percent, favor single-payer, including 63 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independents. Both Scher and Sanger-Katz point out that the Kaiser poll shows that support for single-payer is malleable, dropping by around a third if people are told that the plan would give the government too much control over health care, eliminate or replace Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, or require a tax hike. As Chait notes, the most risk-averse voters will likely be the 155 million people who are on employer-provided insurance. Furthermore, there’s nothing the Democrats could propose that Republicans wouldn’t frame as a tax-hiking, government takeover of health care. They are pushing Democrats toward a leftist goal, but that is not the same as holding their party hostage to insane demands to take insurance away from tens of millions of people. As Jeff Stein notes at Vox, the fact that Sanders’s bill phases in over four years rather than instantaneously shows that he can make “small but meaningful concessions to create a bill that would still create Medicare for All without making it so radical Senate Democrats couldn’t support it.” Four years is still an enormously quick transition, but a tradeoff at this very early state carries added weight when you consider that the bill is mostly an ideological blueprint. The progressive grassroots also mobilized in full force to protect the law. But it also opens the door to a lot of other options to get to universal coverage, in an atmosphere that did not exist before.

Back then, as Sanders himself put it, “we had me, and that was it.” But even before Sanders released his plan, liberals were warning that Democrats would be unwise to shackle themselves to a bill that could hurt them politically. When grandiose promises on the campaign trail aren’t kept once attaining power, a party’s base becomes demoralized and recriminations follow.” Margot Sanger-Katz, writing in The New York Times, argued that Medicare for All could become the Democratic Party’s version of the GOP’s “repeal and replace,” an unfulfillable promise that would come back to haunt them: Like “repeal and replace,” “single-payer” is a broadly popular slogan that papers over intraparty disagreements and wrenching policy choices. A highly cited survey by Kaiser Health Foundation shows that a slim majority of Americans, 53 percent, favor single-payer, including 63 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independents. Both Scher and Sanger-Katz point out that the Kaiser poll shows that support for single-payer is malleable, dropping by around a third if people are told that the plan would give the government too much control over health care, eliminate or replace Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, or require a tax hike. As Chait notes, the most risk-averse voters will likely be the 155 million people who are on employer-provided insurance. Furthermore, there’s nothing the Democrats could propose that Republicans wouldn’t frame as a tax-hiking, government takeover of health care. They are pushing Democrats toward a leftist goal, but that is not the same as holding their party hostage to insane demands to take insurance away from tens of millions of people. As Jeff Stein notes at Vox, the fact that Sanders’s bill phases in over four years rather than instantaneously shows that he can make “small but meaningful concessions to create a bill that would still create Medicare for All without making it so radical Senate Democrats couldn’t support it.” Four years is still an enormously quick transition, but a tradeoff at this very early state carries added weight when you consider that the bill is mostly an ideological blueprint. The progressive grassroots also mobilized in full force to protect the law. But it also opens the door to a lot of other options to get to universal coverage, in an atmosphere that did not exist before.

Medicare for All The legislation pitched by Sanders would expand Medicare into a universal health care program guaranteeing insurance to all Americans, in what would create one of the nation's largest and most ambitious social welfare initiatives. (I-Vt.) What it would do The Medicare for All bill would eliminate nearly all private health insurance in favor of a government-run system that ensures comprehensive coverage to every single individual through Medicare. Sanders has not said exactly what Medicare for All will cost or settled on language raising the taxes necessary to support a universal health care system. Leahy (D-Vt.) Medicare Buy-In A group of Senate Democrats led by Debbie Stabenow is proposing legislation that would expand Medicare to allow individuals as young as 55 to buy into the government-run program. Those who favor the bill also hope that expanding the Medicare program would help stabilize Obamacare's still-shaky individual insurance market, which has suffered from a disproportionate percentage of older and sicker enrollees. 12 Democratic senators support it Medicaid Buy-In Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz is penning a proposal to allow states to give their residents the option to buy into the Medicaid program. The as-yet-unveiled bill would let states establish a kind of "public option" on their Obamacare exchanges by letting enrollees choose to purchase private health insurance or a Medicaid plan. Those who are eligible for subsidies to purchase coverage would be able to use them to buy into Medicaid. The bill is also likely to raise the rate that Medicaid pays doctors and hospitals to entice more providers into the system and ensure that enrollees buying into Medicaid have adequate access to care. The enrollees who buy into Medicaid may not necessarily have the same benefit package as those currently in the program, which is tailored to the needs of low-income individuals.